As disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,536,343 (Ramachandran) and 4,581,176 (Davidson), it is known that .alpha.-arylacrylonitriles are useful as chemical intermediates and that they can be prepared by reacting a suitable aryl ketone with an alkali metal cyanide and aluminum chloride, preferably in the presence of an activating amount of water and/or HCl. One of the ketones taught to be useful in the processes of Ramachandran and Davidson is 4-isobutylacetophenone, a compound which U.S. Pat. No. 3,228,831 (Nicholson et al.) teaches to be synthesizable by the reaction of isobutylbenzene with acetyl chloride.
When 4-isobutylacetophenone or an analogous ketone is subjected to a reaction of Ramachandran or Davidson, the product is a 1-cyano-1-(4-alkylphenyl)alkene. It would be desirable to be able to prepare such products directly from the appropriate alkylbenzenes to obviate the need for two separate reactions, i.e., the synthesis of the ketone and its subsequent conversion to a 1-cyano-1-(4-alkylphenyl)alkene.